MIDDLEBORO — The Select Board held a presentation on the town’s water quality Monday, Aug. 4, following concerns raised by the activist group Citizens for a Healthy Middleboro about the recent use of the East Grove well, which is known to contain PFAS, or “forever chemicals.”

PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals used in a wide array of products, including cookware and packaging. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, they can cause cancer, developmental effects in children, immune system suppression, increased cholesterol levels and decreased fertility. Studies on how the duration of exposure affects risk are ongoing.

Monday’s presentation included an overview of Middleboro’s plans to address PFAS contamination, which involve renovating and replacing several wells and treatment facilities across town at an estimated total cost of more than $80 million — $33 million of which has already been spent at East Grove.

Water Superintendent Michael Bumpus also responded to questions about why the East Grove well remains in use, stating that the well must occasionally be called on to maintain municipal supply.

The presentation was prompted by residents' reactions to alerts sent through the town’s notification system, announcing that the East Grove well would be active on July 18 and July 25.

The well — where testing in 2020 revealed contaminant levels frequently exceeding the state’s safety threshold — continued to be used regularly until last year and is now the site of a renovation project aimed at reducing PFAS to non-detectable levels.

The alerts led Citizens for a Healthy Middleboro founder Richard Oakley to publicly urge residents, “Don’t drink the water,” citing the most recent test results from East Grove, which showed PFAS levels well above the state limit.

Oakley, along with fellow Citizens members Kristen Szadis and Kelsey Canfield, has been a vocal advocate for action on PFAS. The trio collaborated with the town to establish both the East Grove alert system and a new water filling station with low or undetectable PFAS levels, which opened last month at the Middleboro Department of Public Works at 65 Sachem St.

On Monday, representatives from the engineering firm Weston & Sampson outlined the broader plan to eliminate detectable PFAS from the town’s entire water supply. This includes an additional $47 million for upgrading, replacing and improving treatment systems at five other wells throughout Middleboro — the Mizaras well and four others classified as the “South Wells.”

While these wells do not exceed the more lenient limits set by the state, like the East Grove well does, several of them often surpass the much stricter threshold established by the EPA.

Design work for the South Wells and Mizaras projects is currently underway. Construction is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed by 2029, ahead of the EPA’s 2031 compliance deadline for PFAS levels.

At the East Grove site, town officials aim to complete construction by August 2027. Until then, the well will be used occasionally through fall 2026, after which it will be taken offline until the project is finished.

Since Middleboro reduced use of the well in 2024, its contribution to the town’s overall supply has dropped from 3% to less than 1%.

However, Bumpus said it is still needed at times during the summer to ensure that enough water is available for fire suppression and to meet production demands when heavy seasonal use strains the rest of the system.

“You’re pushing day after day — [the other wells] need recovery, or we’re going to be in worse circumstances,” Bumpus said.

Several residents, including Oakley, pressed Bumpus and other town officials to explain the risk of PFAS exposure for residents living near the East Grove well, on Barden Hill Road.

Bumpus said that while it is difficult to determine exact sourcing, those who live directly next to the well are likely receiving all of their water from it when it is in use. 

However, by the time water reaches Middleboro High School — located less than a mile from the well — it has been “blended” with water from other sources in the system, reducing the PFAS levels, Bumpus said.

Prior to that discussion, Oakley addressed the board and, after emphasizing the health risks of PFAS exposure, referenced a promise he said members made at a February 2024 meeting — to shut down the East Grove well completely.

“I would like to ask the Select Board to take their own idea from February 2024 and shut down East Grove. It’s dangerous, and I think we need to do more about it,” Oakley said.

In response, member Brian Giovanoni admonished Oakley for his actions at the School Committee meeting on July 24 — the day before the East Grove well was last used. At that meeting, Oakley told attendees, “Don’t drink the water tomorrow.”

“Did you actually walk into a meeting and call the water dangerous and poison?” Giovanoni asked. “Because it was you, I didn’t call the police. That is a threat — that is a terroristic threat. I just want you to realize that.”

Giovanoni later stated that he would support “mothballing” the East Grove well, but the Select Board did not take a vote following the presentation.